Rook’s smile disappeared the moment the six Kaels charged. They moved with frightening coordination, spreading apart as they advanced rather than rushing toward him from the same direction.
Rook immediately stepped backward, his eyes darting between them as he tried to identify the real one. The problem was that every Kael moved exactly the same way, making it impossible to distinguish them through appearance alone.
Milo stepped forward to intercept the closest one, his enhancement trait surging through his body as his speed increased, and their swords collided with a sharp metallic clang that echoed through the forest.
Milo twisted his body and avoided another slash before driving his fist toward the clone’s chest. The Kael blocked with his sword, but the force still pushed him several steps backward. Rook used the opening and raised his hand.
"Wind Blade."
A compressed blade of wind tore through the air toward another Kael, who reacted instantly and twisted aside. The attack passed close enough to cut several strands of his red hair before disappearing into the forest. Rook narrowed his eyes. They were faster than he expected.
Another Kael suddenly appeared on Rook’s left. His Perception caught the movement just in time, allowing him to step backward as the sword passed inches from his chest. Rook pivoted away, his increased Agility carrying him farther than expected, and immediately raised his hand.
"Water Manipulation."
A mass of water formed beside him and crashed toward the clone, forcing him backward even after he blocked it with his sword.
Rook didn’t pursue. Instead, he watched the other Kaels carefully.
Something was wrong.
The Kael fighting Milo moved exactly like the one attacking him. Their footwork was identical, their reactions were identical, and even the way they held their swords was the same. It wasn’t simply that they looked alike. They seemed to be sharing the same movements.
A sword suddenly swung toward his head, forcing Rook to duck beneath it. He countered with another Gale Blade, and the clone blocked it, but the force pushed him several meters backward.
Rook retreated as well, his thoughts returning to the clearing.
The crude arrows hadn’t come from these clones. None of them had carried bows, and there had been no one guarding the golden stones when he and Milo first saw them.
’Then who fired them?’
Rook glanced toward the surrounding forest. Whoever had set the trap had been watching them from somewhere nearby, and if Kael wasn’t responsible, then there was another person involved.
"Rook!"
Milo’s warning snapped him back to reality.
One of the Kaels had slipped past him and was already charging toward Rook. He immediately moved aside as the sword came down, feeling the wind from the blade brush his cheek. Rook countered with a Gale Blade that struck the clone’s sword and forced him backward.
Rook’s eyes sharpened.
They were strong, coordinated, and dangerous, but they weren’t invincible.
"We need to separate them!" he called.
Milo immediately understood. He changed direction and dragged his opponent farther away from the others while Rook did the same with the clone attacking him. The six Kaels gradually spread throughout the forest, their perfect formation beginning to break apart.
Rook tightened his grip.
If these clones were connected somehow, separating them might finally reveal their weakness.
He raised his hand and prepared another spell.
’Let’s see what happens when they’re alone.’
Rook’s eyes sharpened as the six Kaels continued closing in. He had spent enough time testing them. If he kept holding back, there was a good chance he would eventually make a mistake, and unlike the previous evaluations, there was no instructor standing nearby to stop the fight if things went too far. He still had no intention of revealing everything he possessed but there was little reason to continue restricting himself to basic attacks.
He stepped backward as another Kael approached, then raised his hand. The wind around his palm suddenly compressed until it became almost invisible.
"Vacuum Slash."
The attack shot forward without the loud burst of air that accompanied his usual Wind Blade. The Kael barely managed to raise his sword before the invisible slash struck him. His body was thrown backward, and a deep cut appeared across his uniform as he crashed into a tree.
Milo glanced toward him in surprise.
"Since when could you do that?"
Rook ignored the question and immediately turned his attention toward the other clones. Two of them had already changed direction, moving toward him together while another continued fighting Milo. Rook planted his foot against the ground and raised his other hand.
"Stone Lance."
The earth beneath the trees cracked as several stone lances erupted from the ground. One Kael leaped over them, but the other was forced to change direction, breaking the formation they had been maintaining.
Rook’s Perception immediately picked up the opening.
He moved before the clone could recover, his enhanced Agility carrying him across the distance faster than before. The Kael swung his sword, but Rook ducked beneath it and struck him with a concentrated burst of wind that sent him tumbling across the dirt.
For the first time, the clones weren’t attacking together.
Rook looked toward Milo.
"Keep them separated."
Milo grinned as his enhancement surged through his body.
"Was planning to."
He charged forward and intercepted another clone, while Rook turned toward the remaining two.
Then something caught his attention.
The Kael he had struck with Vacuum Slash was standing again.
There was no blood.
The deep cut across his uniform had vanished.
Rook’s expression slowly hardened.
’So they’re not human.’
The clone raised its sword.
Behind it, the others did the same.
Rook took a slow breath.
Whatever these things were, destroying their bodies wasn’t enough and somewhere beyond the trees, the person who had fired those arrows was still watching.
Rook’s eyes moved across the battlefield, searching for something that could explain what he was seeing. The clones had taken direct hits that should have left them seriously injured, yet every wound disappeared within seconds.
They weren’t regenerating in the normal sense. There was no blood, no visible flesh repairing itself, and no sign that the damage had even mattered. It was almost as if their bodies were being restored to an earlier state.
Rook’s eyes moved between the six identical faces.
’So the Kael we met earlier was probably a clone too.’
That possibility made the situation even worse.
If all six of these were copies, then the real Kael had never shown himself.